Lost and Found

The streets of Canterlot were always full of ponies with a purpose. Ponies were going to and from their jobs, shopping in the many luxurious stores, or just enjoying the sights of Equestria’s glamorous capital. However, a few ponies don’t really have a purpose to their movements, just letting the wind take them, so to speak.

One pony didn’t have any of that. She had nowhere to go, nopony to meet, nothing to do but watch the time go by. Nopony paid any attention to her. How could they? They didn’t even know she existed. Anypony that would bump into her simply phased right through. She just walked aimlessly around Canterlot like she’s done many times before. How long has it been? Weeks? Months? Years? She lost track long ago.

She looked down at a puddle. Her pink coat, pink and yellow mane, and bright cyan eyes looked back at her with a scowl, though like herself, nopony else could see her reflection. “You know Strawberry, you’re not getting any younger.” She said to herself. “Though, you aren’t getting any older either.” She scoffed at herself and looked around at the ponies wandering the streets. “So which poor sucker am I gonna tail today?”

Return... to... to the castle, by... that's two, right? Four? Probably better to assume two. Fantasy huffed and looked up from the instructions Celestia had given her. Gotta freakin' learn the alphabet all over again this is a pain in the ass... The list was meant to cover multiple lessons for the day: tasks to get her familiar with the city and populace, and to improve her Equestrian literacy. The second part she'd appreciate a bit more help with so she could be sure of her primary goals. Oh well, guess she had to find out how much she fucked up when she got back.

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Strawberry chuckled as she saw a noble trip over a rock, then scold the rock for daring to be in his way. It was the little things that kept her going. Like that stallion not looking where he was going because a mare caught his eye and he walked into a wall. The mare wasn’t even that hot either. Flying along, she noticed a white mare who looked just a little lost. “Eh? Why not? I’ll follow her.”

She flew above the mare, who seemed to have a list of some kind. Squinting down, she could read off of it. “Geez, what kind of list is this? Seems like it’s meant for a child.” She commented.

Fantasy stopped in her tracks, scowling. She looked up to spot the offending pony, spotted Strawberry and glared at her. "Um, excuse me. Mind your own damn business." She turned forward and sped up on her way to the next destination: the library. She'd need to get through a chapter of a book and find a few more ponies to converse with (hopefully a few very fulfilling conversations could make up for lacking quantity, if it came to that).

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“Well somepony is in a bad mood today” Strawberry said as the mare went on her way. Then the reality of what she said, and who she said it to kicked in, and she froze in her tracks. So much in fact, her wings stopped moving and she plopped to the ground, butt first. “D-did she...?” She picked herself up and made a dash to find that mare again. She wasn’t hard to spot. “Hey!” She called out, landing in front of her. “You spoke to me, right? Right?”

Uh, fuck yes I'm in a bad mood when somepony's snooping on my business. Fantasy mentally retorted. Then she shrieked and jumped back as the mare dropped in on her out of nowhere, drawing more than a few stares from passers-by; to them, somepony had just shrieked and recoiled for seemingly no reason.

Fantasy blinked and raised an eyebrow at the pink mare's question. "Uh... yes?"

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Strawberry froze up again for a brief second. “Y-you spoke to me…” She spoke softly, looking almost ready to cry. “Nopony’s done that in… I don’t know how long… Probably very long.” She shook herself out of her daze. “I-I’m sorry… It’s been a while since I’ve interacted with another pony… They usually don’t know I’m there.” She held out a hoof. “Hi, I’m Strawberry. Strawberry Breeze.”

All irritation Fantasy had felt towards this pony melted instantly, replaced by compassion and sympathy. She looked at the mare's hoof and almost reached for it, but stopped and retracted her hoof just a bit. "Ghost?" she asked softly, wondering if attempting and failing a hoofshake would just cause the mare more distress.

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She shook her head, then retracted her own hoof. “No, I can feel my own pulse, so I can assume I’m still alive. Though I haven’t needed to eat, drink, or sleep. I dunno why. I dunno why I don’t exist to anypony else either.” She punched her hoof into the side of a passing stallion, which phased right through him. He was none the wiser about it. “Yeeeaaaah… So you’re the first pony to acknowledge my existence. Congrats.”

Strawberry shrugged. “Well good luck with that. I tried going to her. She doesn’t acknowledge my existence either. If she did, I wouldn’t be able to watch her sleep. You know she sometimes sucks on her hoof while she sleeps? It’s kinda cute, actually.” She said, chuckling at the memory. “Though, it would be good to get out of the public eye. You are kinda talking to yourself.”

Fantasy looked around, and blushed when she saw how many ponies were staring at her. "Um... we'll walk and talk I know Princess Celestia I can talk to her about this and get you help." she whispered to Strawberry quickly. She put her list away and turned around, heading back to the castle.

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Strawberry huffed in annoyance, but stayed quiet as they walked to the castle. When they got there, a small cluster of nobles could be seen waiting outside the throne room. A couple of them turned away from Fantasy when they noticed her and one just glared at her. “Geez, what’s gotten up their bums today? Are you just that unpopular around her?” Strawberry asked, sticking her tongue out at the nobles.

Fantasy rolled her eyes in annoyance. Could this mare ask questions when she could answer them? Seriously, this was worse than when people keep asking questions while your mouth is full of food. Fantasy slowly and gently opened one of the doors to the throne room and poked her head inside. "Princess Celestia?" she asked timidly. "Can I accompany you on your lunch break? There's something I need to talk to you about."

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Princess Celestia looked a bit surprised at Fantasy’s early entrance. “Oh, you’re back early. Certainly, don’t be shy.” She motioned for Fantasy to come closer, shutting the door behind her. “So, did you have any questions about the list I gave you? Or is it something else?” She asked.

"Something else. I... uh..." Oh boy, this was going to sound crazy. Then again, Celestia was probably used to crazy from her by now. "I... met a pony... who, uh, well... can't... can't be seen or heard, or touched, by other ponies. Like a ghost, but... she says she's still alive. Got any idea what this is?

"She's right next to me, by the way."

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Celestia paused as she took in that statement. “A pony who can’t be seen, heard, or touched… And she’s not a ghost?” She quickly went over in her head the possibilities she could think of. Imaginary friend? No, she doesn’t seem like the type. Mental illness? Highly doubt it. An illusion spell? She reached out with her magic to try and sense for any traces of a spell, but came up empty. No, guess not. She let out a sigh. “Well I don’t have an answer for you right now. If you want to accompany me for lunch, we can talk it over a little more, try and see what her story is.” She suggested.

Celestia led Fantasy and her invisible pony out of the throne room and down the hallway, towards the dining room. Strawberry blew another raspberry at the nobles as they left. When they got to the dining room, Celestia took a seat and motioned for Fantasy to sit as well. “Is there anything you’d like for lunch? What about the other pony? Can she eat?” She asked.

Strawberry shook her head. “No, I can’t. I haven’t been able, nor have I needed to eat.” She said, then looked at Fantasy. “Please tell her that.”

"She can't." Fantasy relayed to Celestia. "Nor has she needed to, apparently." She looked over at Strawberry, almost apologetically. Then she remembered, "Oh, and I'll answer that Noble question later." she told the pegasus.

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Celestia looked sympathetically towards where she assumed Strawberry was, according to where Fantasy looked. “I’m sorry to hear that. I must admit, I’ve never heard of a pony in such a situation. If it were anypony else coming to me with this, I probably would have sent them to a hospital. Even still, I have my doubts.” She looked back towards Fantasy as a maid came in to take their lunch orders.

Celestia ordered two sandwiches for them both. Then an awkward silence ensued. “Sooo…” Celestia started, “I’m curious about this pony you met. What can you tell me about her? Does she know how this happened to her?” She asked.

“Well, my name is Strawberry Breeze. I’m a pegasus, last I checked.” She looked back at her wings. “Yup, still a pegasus. Oh yeah, and I don’t really remember much before I ended up like this. Just a bright flash of blue light.” Strawberry explained. “Oh yeah, Bluestreak, could you relay that to her?”